OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, December 16, 2021
East Oregonian
A7
Lawmakers:
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Majority Democrats said only the full
Legislature could extend the grace period for
evictions. The E-Board cannot pass legisla-
tion.
Impetus for session
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton’s Cahill Robinson competes in the 200 meter individual medley during the Pendleton High School Invitational on June 10,
2021, at the Pendleton Aquatic Center. Oregon School Activities Association on Monday, Dec. 13, reclassified Pendleton High School as
4A and moved it into the Greater Oregon League effective next fall.
OSAA:
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Schools at the 3A level will have an
enrollment of 146 to 310 in grades 9-11,
while 2A is 75 to 145, and 1A is under 74
students.
At the 4A level, enrollment is 311 to 607.
Pendleton will be one of the largest schools
in the division with 588 — larger than any
school in the Greater Oregon League by
more than 100 students. Only St. Helens and
Crook County are larger.
While travel will be reduced for Pend-
leton, the hunt for nonleague games begins
now.
The GOL athletic directors will meet
in Baker City on Thursday, Dec. 16, to
discuss standard operating procedures,
schedules and the like.
“We are hitting the ground running,”
Somnis said. “For us, it has been a long, long
time since we have been connected to these
schools. In 5A and 6A we have scheduling
meetings. It’s a collaborative effort. I’m not
sure how it is in 4A. Being at a small school
before, it was a free-for-all. In the past, we
haven’t played 3A schools. It’s a different
world we are stepping into.”
Goodman and Gonzales Jr. know the
challenges of scheduling nonleague games,
which can be upward of 14 games or more
for basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball
and softball.
“We have to work hard for those games,”
Goodman said. “If you have teams that are
good, it’s easier to get those games. Some-
times people don’t want to travel that far.
Some are good about hosting a game and
coming here the next time. It can be chal-
lenging.”
Gonzales Jr. said Pendleton could help
open up avenues for new nonleague oppo-
nents.
“If they can open us up to some new travel
destinations, that would be great,” he said.
Adding Pendleton to the GOL has bene-
fits, according to Goodman.
“You want your teams to be prepared to
go into the playoffs,” Goodman said. “You
want to challenge them so they will be
ready. We have always had a little rivalry
with Pendleton. Instead of friendly rivalries,
now they mean something.”
Gonzales Jr. said he likes that Pendleton
can offer junior varsity and freshman teams
to play, and they have swimming, which
adds another team to their league.
“On the competitive level, we match up
well,” he said. “It will be good for the region.
They were very competitive in baseball and
softball, and they are a good 5A football team.
I think they will continue to dominate at that.
Baker is going to have to step up their game.”
Dissent is voiced
Beam:
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With the Oak Hotel in the downtown
core, Pearce said he hopes to obtain an
urban renewal grant from the Pendle-
ton Development Commission to help
offset the cost of the project. Charles
Denight, the commission’s associ-
ate director, said while Pearce hasn’t
submitted a grant application yet, his
project might be a good candidate for
the rejuvenation grant program.
When applicants previously sought
grants for large projects, the commis-
sion would often package together
grants from existing projects, the
facade and second story programs, to
help fund the project. In February, the
commission created the rejuvenation
grant, which encompasses the costs of
interior and exterior renovations under
one umbrella. If Pearce were to apply
for the rejuvenation grant, Denight said
he would be the first to do it.
As Pearce plans to begin work in the
coming month, he said he was thank-
ful to Picken and the coalition, adding
they have the downtown’s best inter-
ests at heart.
Editor’s Note: Andrew Picken is
the spouse of East Oregonian owner
Kathryn Brown.
Although some cities and counties are still
accepting them, the Oregon Department of
Housing and Community Services stopped
new applications for rental assistance after
Dec. 1. Agency officials said that pending
applications were likely to consume the rest of
the $289 million available from federal funds
— $180 million has been paid out to landlords
as of Dec. 11 — and the state still would not
have enough to cover all pending requests.
House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland,
called for a special session months ago.
“Today, we kept our promise and protected
thousands from losing their homes this
winter,” she said, along with other priority
items. “I’m appreciative of the bipartisan work
that led to this successful emergency special
session to provide relief for every part of the
state.”
The $200 million that lawmakers drew
from the state budget a year ago for rental
assistance has been spent. Oregon has applied
for $200 million more in federal aid from the
U.S. Treasury, but that money is unlikely to
come until spring — and even if it comes, it
will be the last installment.
Meanwhile, more than 10,000 applications,
many of them in the three Portland metro
counties, are past the grace periods estab-
lished by state law and county actions. State
law allows 60 days from when a tenant has
informed a landlord about an application being
filed; in Multnomah and Washington counties
and the city of Beaverton, it is 90 days.
“During wintertime, we want to make sure
Oregonians are kept whole,” said Sen. Kayse
Jama, D-Portland, who leads the Senate hous-
ing panel. “We also want to make sure that
landlords who are struggling get the resources
they need.”
Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, of
Bend, helped broker the deal after Republicans
resisted the initial call for a special session.
“We do have people with the possibility
of being evicted,” he said. “We do have land-
lords who still have to be made whole. There
have been several hundred million dollars
already spent. In order to protect them and
protect landlords, the only option we have
today in this emergency session is to provide
these funds and that certainty to tenants in a
defined period.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Rivoli Restoration Coalition President Andrew Picken looks at the brickwork Tuesday, Dec. 14,
2021, where a former beam spanned the interior of the Rivoli Theater in Pendleton. Developer
Parley Pearce is using parts of the 50-foot beam in the Oak Hotel, the former brothel in down-
town Pendleton he plans to open as a boutique hotel.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Streetlights on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, illuminate the Oak Hotel in downtown Pendleton.
A companion bill (Senate Bill 891) extends
the grace period for tenants against evictions
for nonpayment of rent from Feb. 28 to June
30, 2022. The grace period goes back to April
1, 2020, at the start of the pandemic. The grace
period for tenants who have shown landlords
proof of application for assistance is now set
at Sept. 30, 2022, or whenever the landlord
receives the assistance payment.
That bill passed the Senate, 22-6, and the
House, 37-18.
At least 10 House Republicans spoke
against that bill and called on Brown to replace
Margaret Salazar as leader of the state hous-
ing agency.
“House Republicans urge significant
changes to these agencies under Democrat
control,” GOP Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson,
of Prineville, said. “We call on the governor to
dramatically increase oversight to ensure this
money gets to real people in need.”
Brown said she is aware that the agency,
plus community action agencies in the coun-
ties, must reduce the huge backlog of appli-
cations.
“While we have made significant progress
in improving the delivery of rental assistance
in the last several weeks, we know that renters
and their landlords are counting on these addi-
tional state resources and that we must move
quickly,” Brown said in a statement.
Other spending
The rental assistance money was contained
in a larger budget bill that included these
items:
• Resettlement of up to 1,200 Afghan
refugees who will start arriving in Oregon
early next year, $18 million. A task force led
by Jama and Rep. Khanh Pham, D-Portland,
recommended the request, which was not
controversial.
• Aid to farmers and ranchers affected
by the continuing drought, mostly in South-
ern and Eastern Oregon, $100 million. The
amount is drawn from $150 million that
lawmakers already set aside in the current
two-year state budget for natural disasters.
About $40 million is in the form of forgivable
loans (Senate Bill 892 sets up a process) and
$10 million is for specified irrigation districts.
• Efforts against large-scale illegal canna-
bis growing, mostly in Southern Oregon, $25
million. Most of it ($20 million) will be made
available in grants by the Oregon Criminal
Justice Commission to local police agencies;
$5 million goes to the Oregon Water Resources
Department for more staff to deal with illegal
water use that interferes with water rights.
• A project by the Port of Portland to
develop a prototype of modular housing units
made from mass timber, $5 million. It also will
assess economic and environmental effects,
and the efficiency of creating these housing
units to deal with the housing crisis in Oregon.
• Among the smaller items are $19 million,
already in the state budget, for the Oregon
Health Authority to increase reimburse-
ment rates that it cut for dental care under
the Oregon Health Plan; $10 million for the
Oregon Tourism Commission (Travel Oregon)
for outfitters whose business suffered during
the pandemic-induced downturn; $2 million
for a program for gun violence prevention in
East Multnomah County.